Mobile App Helps Battle Graffiti in Philadelphia

Juliana Reyes reports that the anti graffiti team led by Philadelphia's Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP) is one month into a pilot program to test the use of a mobile app called Collector, created by Esri for use on Samsung Galaxy phones as part of its package of ArcGIS tools.

"Instead of using pen and paper to log their work out in the field, five crew members are using the ESRI-built app on Samsung Galaxy phones to track their work, complete with before and after photos," writes Reyes. If the experiment proves fruitful, the team will roll out the app to all 25 team members.

The anti-graffiti team's use of Collector is the first test for the city's soon-to-expand se of mobile data tracking in other departments. For instance, "[the] city plans to give mobile devices to inspectors from the Department of Licenses & Inspections so they can issue violations in real time, instead of waiting to go back to the office to do so."